HFMS (Hydrological Forecasting & Modeling System)

Designed as a complete, turn-key system for the advance detection and notification of potential flooding, Baron’s HFMS system has already been implemented as part of Lockheed Martin’s DESWAT (DEStructive WATers) project for the country of Romania.

HFMS incorporates specialized capabilities, culminating in an accurate flood prediction system for analysis and response during significant rainfall events. It consists of the following subsystems.

National/Basin Hydrologic Radar Processing System (NHRPS)
Integrates sparsely-spaced surface hydrological and meteorological measurements with the high spatial resolution of remotely-sensed radar imagery.

The NHRPS features value-added functionality with futurecasting, storm tracking and freezing precipitation analysis.

	Hydro FutureScan® Projects individual radar imagery up to an hour into the future, monitoring future advection, growth and decay. This results in a highly accurate 0-2 hour quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF).
	Hydro COBRA® Here, Baron’s versatile COBRA algorithms have been utilized to produce derived 1km hydrologic data products from individual and composited radar data, including 1, 3, 12 and 24-hour products. A 1-hour Quantitative Precipitation Estimate is refreshed every 5 minutes.
	Snow Machine® This COBRA-based data product differentiates between areas of snow, sleet, rain and mix. Snow Machine data is produced in 1km resolution with updates occurring every 5 minutes.

National/Basin Hydrologic Prediction System (NHPS)
The NHPS acquires data from the National/Basin Hydrologic Radar Processing System, as well as Numerical Weather Prediction model outputs, and produces water level, flow rates and flooding forecasts for all major streams and river basins using that data.

National Mosaic Hydro Data Server (NMHDS)
The NMHDS incorporates radar data from multiple sensors and combines it with surface data, resulting in a nationwide digital image for display and analysis.

Heavy Rainfall Notification System (HRNS)
This system allows subscribers in the general public to receive site-specific alerting of potential flooding via e-mail, cell phones, alert radios and pagers.

National Hydrologic Research Archiving System (NHRAS)
The NHRAS incorporates data from the NHPS and archives it for post-analysis.

Integrated Displays
Hydro ThreatNet is a forecasting operations tool, providing forecasters with a wealth of meteorological and hydrological information, including single site and composite radar images, hydrographs, and sensor observations. The user-friendly interface allows instant pans across the map and effortless zooms into areas of interest.

The HydroNet Briefing Terminal is a situational awareness tool, used by administrators, the public, or other non-forecast operations personnel. The easy-to-use interface and pull down menus make this an ideal tool for anyone to stay informed of developing meteorological and hydrological conditions with a single glance.